Fire claims 57 Glacier View homes

Jun. 24, 2012

Ken and Dottie Wanberg inspect a map as they try to gather news of their second home, which is inside an evacuated area in the Glacier View Meadows subdivision, on Sunday outside The Forks in Livermore. / Dawn Madura/The Coloradoan

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Show your support for our community and those coming to its rescue. We’ll print a special section dedicated to the firefighters, evacuees and personnel who are battling and dealing with the High Park Fire personally. Send your letters of gratitude or support to joshawtry@coloradoan.com, and we’ll get them into next Sunday’s section. If you have hand-written letters or drawings, bring them to the Coloradoan at 1300 Riverside Ave. Avoid the mail — we need your letters by the end of the day Wednesday to get the section ready on time!

The fire claimed 80 structures — 57 homes — in Glacier View Meadows subdivision and the Deer Meadows area northwest of Fort Collins when it ripped through the area Friday.

Residents learned the fate of their homes on Sunday during a meeting for evacuees at The Ranch in Loveland. No homes burned in Glacier View’s 10th and 11th filings or in filings 1-8.

Glacier View’s 12th filing suffered the bulk of the losses.

Crews previously confirmed that 191 homes had been destroyed by the fire. Friday’s destruction brings that toll up to 248 homes. No structures or homes were damaged on Saturday, incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said in a media briefing Sunday morning.

Sunday night, the skies above Fort Collins opened up, pouring rain — and accompanying lightning — down on the area. The squall’s effects on the fire won’t be fully known until the morning, when it will be easier to see where rain helped firefighters and where smoke from lightning will signal more work.

In Glacier View, officials say a dozer line firefighters built saved “hundreds of homes,” while direct structure protection measures saved 40 more. Glacier View Fire Chief Greg Niswender told evacuees Sunday when the fire jumped the Poudre River at Stevens Gulch it was a mile wide and went through the 12th filing in less than 30 minutes.

“There was not a lot anyone was going to do,” he said, his voice cracking. Minutes later he had to tell friends and neighbors their homes were gone.

“This is the worst thing (Glacier View) has ever faced, but I wouldn’t want to face it with anyone else,” he told the anxious crowd.

The danger isn’t over for Glacier View residents or anyone living in or near the fire zone, officials cautioned. And, while more evacuees are going home, many are still displaced or on orders to be ready to go if needed.

Ken and Dottie Wanberg stopped at The Forks restaurant and deli at the corner of U.S. Highway 287 and Red Feather Lakes Road on Sunday afternoon for more information about the fire.

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The couple has a home in the fourth filing at Glacier View Meadows that has been evacuated since Friday. They drove up from Arvada to see if they could retrieve some art. The couple had recently moved 1,000 antique books to their mountain home and knew they wouldn’t be able to bring those out. “It looks OK for where we’re located,” Ken Wanberg said, but much depends still on the way the wind blows.

Ann Peterson, owner of Stonewall Creek Ranch at U.S. 287 and Cherokee Park Road, has been on pre-evacuation orders since Friday. Visiting with friend Julie Auch at The Forks Sunday, Peterson said: “I’m sad for friends and people we know through the church. We’re told it could be some months before they finally put this thing out.”

With only 45 percent containment, the fire is still a threat. “So much depends on the wind speed and direction. It’s very unnerving. This is a whole different ballgame,” Peterson said.

Auch was evacuated in the Stuart Fire earlier this month and knows what others are going through. “This just breaks your heart,” she said.

While others wait out evacuations, fire officials on Sunday allowed residents to return to Kings Canyon, Unger Mountain, Smirth Bridge roads and Manners Lane, and Colo. Highway 14 from Kings Canyon Road west to the Grey Rock Trail Head. Passes to residents with proof of address are being handed out as of noon.

Crews will continue to battle the fire in its northwest corner near Glacier View, and also will focus containment efforts on the burn area’s southwest corner to prevent its spread toward Pingree Park.

Temperatures in the mountains are expected to be in the 90s today with low humidity.

Hahnenberg and his Type 1 incident command team cycled out of leading firefighting efforts on Sunday, replaced by Beth Lund’s Type 1 leadership team. His team has fought the blaze since June 10.

Lund’s team is assessing the fire and shadowing Hahnenberg’s command over the weekend.

“Being a new team coming in, we want to make sure we don’t make any rash moves,” Lund told reporters Sunday night.

So far, it’s cost $29.6 million to battle the blaze. Residents in the Bonner Peak subdivision remain under a pre-evacuation notice that also stretches County Road 74E from the junction of U.S. Highway 287 west to include County Road 37, and north to County Road 76H.

Residents of Red Feather Lakes and Crystal Lakes are asked to use Cherokee Park Road (County Road 80C) to access their residences. They also can go south on Boy Scout Ranch Road to Colo. Highway 14 and go west there.